


Eloise at the Art Gallery

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Eloise - Kay Thompson (ill. Hilary Knight), Ib (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-01-04 00:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: Philip takes Eloise, Giselle, and Nanny to the art gallery out of the Plaza Hotel. While there, Eloise and Giselle meet a new friend: a nine-year-old girl named Ib. Suddenly, the field trip isn't so boring, boring, boring as the girls go off together, but they soon find themselves literally getting lost into the art as something scary happens to all of them. Read more to find out!





	1. Chapter 1

This morning started out as a normal, typical morning at the Plaza Hotel at the tippy-top floor which was home to five: Weenie, who was a dog who looked like a cat, Skipperdee who was a turtle as the Plaza was the only hotel in New York who would allow you to have a turtle, Nanny, who is a beloved nurse and mostly companion to the two girls who lived in the room with her. There was Giselle who was 17-years-old and a student at Hawthorne Preparatory School which was within walking distance of the hotel. Also, there was Eloise. Eloise was six and a city child as she lived in the hotel with her beloved pets, nanny, and "bestest big sister in the whole wide world".

Giselle was fast asleep in her bed as she grasped the covers. Today she would be out of school which meant that she could hang out with Eloise and Nanny, but today she knew was a planned day which would lead up to something her little sister would not enjoy which was a tutoring session from Philip who wore red garters and was boring, boring, boring. He goes to Andover and the girls' mother knew the Dean since the school wasn't a proper fit for Eloise like it was for Giselle who was older and much more sensible. Giselle had mixed feelings for Philip, she did not hate him, but at the same time, she didn't like him. The same could be said for a certain woman in her life. Giselle's day began as soon as her little sister woke up for the day. Who needed an alarm clock when your little sister would screech out, "**NAAAAAAAAAAAAANNY!**"

Giselle woke up in her nightgown and slid on her slippers as Eloise woke up in her bed with her "Do Not Disturb" sign worn around her neck which was actually for the room doors. "Good morning, Ellie." the teenager said to her child sister.

"Good morning, Gissy." Eloise smiled innocently.

"Today, Philip is coming with a surprise." Giselle said which cued an eye roll from her little sister.

"Yeah..." Eloise pouted firmly. "The only surprises I like come from Mother in Paris."

"Yes, I have to agree..." Giselle chuckled lightly as she acted like she liked their mother so not to upset her little sister as her love for her mother wore thin ever since their mother took a job in the fashion industry for what felt like Eloise's whole life. At least they both had Nanny, right?

"What? What? What?" Nanny mumbled as she soon woke up to see the girls as they came out to the living room together.

"Nanny, we're hungry." Eloise pouted.

"Imagine my surprise." Giselle could hear Nanny mumble to herself as she plopped down on the couch in her kimono robe.

Eloise plopped down beside her as she reached out to the phone to order Room Service for their breakfast. Like she did every morning.

"Good morning, luv." Nanny smiled softly at Giselle.

"Good morning, Nanny," Giselle smiled back. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know me... I'll keep up just fine. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did... Looking forward to spending the day with you and Eloise... Even if Philip has to come along."

"Now, now, now, Giselle," Nanny started sharply. "I know you don't think much of Philip, but you know your little sister has to get her education somehow."

"Oh, I know, Nanny," Giselle reassured. "Even if he is a bit of a stick-in-the-mud."

"Yes, I must admit that's true." Nanny replied.

Giselle giggled a bit.

"Gissy, do you know what Philip's going to do with us today?" Eloise asked.

"I'm sorry, Ellie, I know as much as you do right now," Giselle replied. "Maybe it'll be like that time we went to the dinosaur museum."

Eloise shrugged a bit as she began to tend to Weenie and Skipperdee as she lived in her own little world with them living off their mother's fortune. She then began to yawn out loud several times as she stopped to think which Giselle guessed was that she would be trying to think of how she would get a present. Ah, Eloise, you are impulsive and sneaky, but you could never aggravate your big sister. Even if it was time for Giselle to do homework, Eloise would normally go off to play in the lobby until dinner.

"Nanny, are you feeling much better?" Giselle asked her mother figure, the best thing she could have with her and Eloise's mother who was off in Paris doing Lord knows what.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes, luv," Nanny reassured as last week she had to stay in bed with a bad cough after Dr. Hadley came by. "It was just a little... Cold... That's all."

"Are you sure?" Giselle whispered closely as Eloise wasn't too far away, but was in her own little world right now.

"Well, I'm hoping that's what it was," Nanny told Giselle as she was almost an adult and Eloise was only six. "I'm not getting any younger."

"Oh, Nanny, don't say that... You'll probably outlive us all."

"You're sweet, but I'm not too sure about that sometimes."

"At least you have Uncle Gavin." Giselle smiled softly, referring to Nanny's brother who used to visit when Eloise was just a baby back when their mother was around more often, including another man in their life who she missed too, too, too terribly to this very day. Of course, she never told Eloise that since she was just a child.

"Yes," Nanny smiled back. "I do have to wonder though what you girls would do without me."

"Oh, Heaven forbid that Kay do any parenting..." Giselle rolled her eyes about her mother.

"Giselle, you mustn't talk about your mother that way," Nanny lightly scolded. "She loves you and Eloise very, very, very much."

"_Does_ she though?" Giselle murmured quietly.

"I know that for a fact, you know how she can be very busy, busy, busy... You shouldn't hate her." Nanny advised.

"I know, Nanny... She gave us life..." Giselle sighed softly. "I don't hate my mother... I'm just disappointed that she's almost never around. I feel like the last time we saw her was last summer before she left to go check out the new Fall collection in France with her dear friend Coco."

"At least she took you back-to-school shopping." Nanny coaxed.

"Yes, I suppose," Giselle shrugged as she looked around as Eloise played with their pets. "Nanny? I'm glad we have these talks. Ellie just wouldn't understand."

"You know you can always talk to me, pet," Nanny smiled as she hugged the teenage girl and kissed her cheek. "I may not be your mother, but I love you and your sister very much."

"We love you too, Nanny." Giselle smiled back.

* * *

The doorbell soon buzzed. Eloise came to get it as Nanny and Giselle stood up as it was time to get breakfast and to charge it please, thank you very much. The worker known as René soon stepped inside with the food trays as it was time to eat breakfast together like every morning. It was the same breakfast every morning: some raisins for Skipperdee, roast beef with some bone for Weenie, boiled eggs with bacon and white bread toast for Giselle, "rawther" hot coffee with Irish bacon, and of course, oatmeal for Eloise, otherwise she would "dry-up".

"Bonjour, Eloise, voici, votré, petit déjeuner." René said as usual.

"My, my, my, doesn't that look good?" Nanny added.

"Bonjour, René, merci and charge it, please." Eloise remarked.

"Bon appetite." Giselle would reply.

It just felt like a usual morning for the little hotel family. After breakfast, it was time for teeth brushing, pigeon shooing, bath and shower, and getting dressed. Giselle straightened her tie while Eloise tied on her trademark hair ribbon as Nanny squeezed herself into her corset.

"And Kleenex makes a very good hat." Eloise told Giselle as she wore a tissue box.

Giselle giggled out of amusement from her little sister attempting to be a fashion diva like their mother.

* * *

Some time passed and it was a bit of a cloudy afternoon. Philip soon came over to whisk Eloise away for her daily dose of education as she had to learn somehow and school wasn't a good fit for Eloise ever since Nursery School, unlike Giselle who could speak five languages from her education from Hawthorne Prep: English, French, Spanish, Latin, and her little sister's "Eloise-isms". Since pets were not allowed at where Philip wanted to take the girls, everybody's favorite Plaza employee Bill offered to look after Weenie and Skipperdee. It was a normal, usual day of course, but Giselle felt like somehow today, it would all change as soon as they would get to where Philip wanted to take them to today as a field trip for Eloise.

Eloise gripped Giselle's hand while Giselle held Nanny's hand. Even though she was a teenager and almost 18 by now, she still felt the need to hold Nanny's hand like she always did by the time Eloise was about to be born.

"Where, where, where are you taking us, Philip?" Nanny asked as they walked for quite a while, using her umbrella as a cane as it looked like it could rain.

"I thought Eloise could use a little culture," Philip replied, sounding a bit snobby in his tone. "So, we are visiting the Guertena Art Gallery."

"Guertena, huh?" Giselle spoke up as she knew that name from her mother's stories which came off as bragging to her whenever her mother did come to visit. "I know that name."

"I should say so, dear," Nanny told her and Eloise. "Your mother knew Guertena Weiss a very long time ago."

"Right..." Giselle replied. "He was a very skilled solo-artist."

"Wow..." Eloise whispered. "I make art sometimes."

"Yes, dear, but you shouldn't draw or write on the walls in the lobby," Nanny softly chided the child. "It's not very nice for Mr. Salamone."

"Yes, Nanny." Eloise replied softly.

They soon came to the art gallery building. Giselle just felt like today would be very off and different somehow as they came to the doors. Philip decided to get the doors for the girls as they finally came inside to begin the field trip.

"Maybe I'll run into Rhonda here... She likes art..." Giselle said to herself hopefully about her school friend.


	2. Chapter 2

As the Plaza Hotel family stumbled into the museum, they saw quite a crowd there. As well as a small family which appeared to be two parents with their little girl who looked a bit older than Eloise. They were welcome to the world of Guertena which thanked them for their visit today as a special and current presentation was being held for the great artist today.

"Ah, here we are," The mother smiled as she held her daughter's hand as her husband took the girl's other hand with her in the middle. "Did you remember everything, Ib?"

"Y-Yes, Mother." The girl spoke up softly.

"Oh! Do you have your handkerchief?" The mother then asked. "You know, the one you got for your birthday?"

"Yes." The girl stated calmly.

"Keep it safe in your pocket, okay?" The mother smiled softly. "Don't lose it!"

"Yes, ma'am." Ib replied.

The families soon walked in together as Philip took the lead while Nanny took that time to catch her breath. Giselle really hoped that Nanny wasn't sick again. It always worried her that Nanny would get sick someday and would perhaps someday have to retire. What would that mean for her and Eloise since their mother was in Europe all the time? Would Giselle become a big sister and receive a promotion into parenting since she was almost a legal adult now?

"Well, here we are," Ib's mother smiled at her daughter. "This is your first time in an art gallery, right, Ib?"

Ib faced her mother as the other family stood there briefly.

"We're here today to see an exhibition of works by an artist named Guertena," Ib's mother continued. "And they don't just have paintings, but also sculptures, and all kinds of other creations! I don't doubt that even you'll enjoy it, Ib!"

"Should we get to the reception desk?" Ib's father suggested with a warm smile.

"Ah, yes," Ib's mother smiled back. "Let's get some pamphlets as well."

Philip came to the desk as he saw the two parents.

"Hello!" Eloise smiled as she came toward to the girl who was about her age.

"Erm... Hi..." Ib said softly.

"I am Eloise," Eloise smiled as she introduced herself. "I am six."

"I am Ib..." Ib said to her, a bit quiet and calm compared to Eloise's eccentricity. "I am nine."

"Are you here to see the art too?" Eloise smiled. "I'm here with Giselle, Nanny, and Philip."

"Oh? Uh... Who are they?" Ib asked curiously.

"Well, Philip is my mean and boring tutor," Eloise began as she rolled her ocean blue eyes. "Though Nanny is my nurse and my mostly companion. Also Giselle is the bestest and most specialest big sister in the whole wide world."

"I wish _I_ had a big sister." Ib said softly.

Giselle looked over with Nanny. "Ah, look, Ellie made a new friend." she then said with a smile.

"I'm not surprised," Nanny smiled back. "Your little sister was always the friendly one whenever it comes to kids, especially at the hotel."

"Mother?" Ib spoke up softly. "Could I go on ahead with Eloise?"

"Who's Eloise?" Ib's mother asked.

"Hello!" Eloise piped up as she appeared beside her new friend.

"Oh, hello there." Ib's mother smiled.

"I am Eloise, I am six." The city child repeated.

"I am Kira Yamamoto and this is my husband, Ozu," Ib's mother replied. "You must be Ib's new friend."

"Yes, yes, yes, I am," Eloise smiled. "Could we go ahead together?"

"Hmm... By yourselves?" Ib's mother asked, a bit worried.

"Pardon us," Nanny spoke up as she came by with Giselle. "This is Eloise's big sister, she's 17. Perhaps she could chaperone the girls for us?"

"I promise, I'm quite responsible," Giselle replied. "I'll look after Ib like one of my other little sisters like Eloise's friends at the hotel."

"Hotel?" Kira asked.

"Yes, we live at the Plaza Hotel back in town," Nanny said. "I promise that you can trust Giselle. She's quite, quite, quite responsible for her age."

"I am, ma'am." Giselle said with a bow to Ib's parents to show some respect.

"Well... I suppose that would be all right," Kira smiled from that. "Now Ib..." she started, a bit firmly, though not harshly to her daughter. "Just make sure you're quiet in the gallery, okay? Don't make a ruckus! Not that there's any need to worry about you, I suppose..."

"The same goes for you, girls," Nanny added to Eloise and Giselle, though mostly to Eloise with how impulsive she could be sometimes, especially back home. "Don't cause the visitors any trouble, now!"

"We won't, Nanny," Giselle reassured. "I promise, promise, promise."

"I promise, promise, promise too." Eloise added.

Nanny knelt down a bit to Eloise's height to link pinkies with the six-year-old to make it official. Giselle smiled from that as she stepped out a bit to leave ahead with Eloise and Ib. Ib's father and Philip began to talk with the receptionist as the girls walked off.

"Giselle, you're in charge of Eloise now," Nanny told the teenager. "I trust you."

"Y-Yes, Nanny..." Giselle replied as those words seemed to stick out to her as this looked like goodbye. "We'll see you later, Nanny."

The three soon walked off ahead as Nanny met and greeted with Kira since the men were too busy.

"Hello," Nanny smiled as she shook hands with Kira. "Call me 'Nanny'."

"Hello, there." Kira smiled back.

"Maybe I should take a break." The janitor mumbled to himself as the girls walked up the steps to get away from the adults.

* * *

The gallery looked very nice so far as it suddenly looked nice and bright outside the window. Giselle walked closely with Eloise and Ib as she glanced around at the various paintings and sculptures with the girls. Ib seemed to have a hard time making out some words, so Giselle tried to help her out.

"Giselle, this reminds me of when Mother invited us to Paris and we visited that art gallery with all those people with those gas-filled balloons." Eloise smiled.

"Oui, it was very nice," Giselle smiled back softly. "You had to be careful though, those balloons almost made you float away."

Ib giggled a little from that as that sounded funny. "Do you have photographs?" she then asked from their visit to Paris.

"I gave most of them to Koki." Eloise replied.

"Who is Koki?" Ib wondered.

"Our mother's lawyer's chauffeur," Giselle said. "He's pretty funny, though I have one picture leftover with my new friend Gerard Dubois who was the nephew of friends of our mother there."

"What is your mother like?" Ib asked.

"Oh, our mother is glamorous... And fashionable... And 30," Eloise smiled. "She goes to Europe and to Paris, and always sends for us if there's some sun. And when she goes to Miami, she stays at the Romey. She has AT&T stock and knows an ad man... Whatever that is."

"My mother is home most of the time while my father goes to work," Ib said softly. "He works in an office."

"Sounds busy." Giselle replied.

"He says that he can be sometimes." Ib gave a small smile.

* * *

They walked off together to explore some more, seeing headless sculptures of women in different colored dresses of red, yellow, and blue.

"Hmm... I wish I could have that blue dress..." Giselle smiled.

"Giselle really likes the color blue." Eloise said to Ib.

"I like the color red," Ib replied. "What color do you like?"

"I like pink," Eloise beamed. "Think pink: a better way of life."

"You're funny, Eloise." Ib giggled.

"I try my best." Eloise smiled from that.

They came across a young man who also looked at the sculptures of dresses. "In my opinion... What Guertena is saying here is 'the individual' lies in one's expressions, which is why these figures don't have heads. See?" he said to them.

"Hmm... Interesting thought..." Giselle replied. 

"Don't you think so?" The young man asked.

"Um... I guess so." Eloise shrugged.

"Oho! I'm so glad you understand!" The young man beamed from that. "Yes, I'm sure that's it."

"'Death of the Individual'." Ib read the plaque aloud from the art piece they decided to examine.

After a while of exploring various pieces, they came toward a very colorful and large framed portrait. It perplexed them all with a lot to think about as they stood together. 

"Whoa... This one's huge!" Ib gasped. "Um... World? ...Hmm... I don't know this word."

"Fabricated." Giselle replied.

"What does... Fabricated mean...?" Eloise asked her big sister.

"Oh... How do I explain this?" Giselle paused to herself. 

However, before anything else could happen, the lights began to flicker on and off in an ominous way before they were all enclosed in the pitch-black darkness. 

"Whoa!" Eloise gasped.

"The lights!" Ib added. 

"N-Now, now, now, let's just stay calm," Giselle spoke up. "I'm sure it's just a quick power surge."

* * *

It felt like a nightmare for Eloise as she usually hated the dark. She often slept in her bed with a flashlight or hugged Weenie for comfort, not to mention adding witch hazel to her toenails to ward off evil spirits. Giselle did her best to stay strong for the young girls as she was the adult in this situation right now, but part of her wished that Nanny was there to comfort them. Giselle stood between the younger girls as she held their hands as they tried to walk around together carefully as they could hardly see in the dark, though they could see that no one was around, but the three of them.

"Where is everybody?" Ib asked softly. 

"Nanny?" Giselle called out. "Are you there? Please tell me that you are."

"Yes, it's me; Ib, Giselle, and Eloise!" Eloise added.

They soon came to one exhibit which looked open with a mural on the floor. It looked like they could just step into the ocean together which showed them the Abyss of the Deep. They found blue footsteps leading into the mural and they decided to check it out.

"Giselle, what's happening?" Eloise bit her lip.

"I don't know, Ellie, but we have to do something..." Giselle said softly. "It looks like we can step into this abyss."

"What is an abyss?" Ib asked as she didn't know that word.

"It's like a bottomless chasm at the bottom of the ocean," Giselle replied. "I'm not sure why, but I feel like it's calling to me."

Eloise and Ib looked curious before they began to step towards the mural as Giselle walked that way. What happened next was, to put it bluntly, "rawther" unusual. 


	3. Chapter 3

The girls soon stumbled into a dark world which was far from what they had known before. It was as though they weren't in the art gallery anymore, especially since Philip, Nanny, and Ib's parents were nowhere to be seen. On opposite sides of the walls were two identical-looking paintings, though one had dark blue colored water and the other had crimson water which almost looked like blood. At least, that's how Giselle saw it, she didn't say that on account of looking after a six-year-old and a nine-year-old. 

They walked down the hallway and saw various letters scattered on the wall. The girls soon stumbled in front of a desk that had three vases with three flowers in them. Roses to be exact as one was as red as Ib's eyes, another one was a bright pink like a peony, and the final one was a dark royal purple color. 

"There are roses sitting in those vases." Eloise observed.

"Should we take them?" Giselle asked the girls to see what they thought might be right, though she hoped it wouldn't be a horrible consequence behind in accepting the roses.

The girls soon agreed and they obtained the roses. As they took the roses, the desk moved away from the door, allowing them to go through the door. The three looked at each other, but they stayed close together as they came through the door. The three girls stumbled upon a painting of a girl with flowing hair which had a blue key in front of the frame. 

"Is that lady's hair coming out of the painting?" Eloise asked Giselle.

"It sure looks like it, Ellie." Giselle had to agree.

"There's something on the ground." Ib said to the others before she bent down and picked up the blue key. 

As Ib took the key, the painting came to life with wild eyes and a snake-like tongue drawing out which was a bit frightening to see. There was a warning about the roses, but Ib didn't know some of the words. Giselle knew them, and it looked very important to remember that as she looked at her rose while Eloise wore her rose in her hair and Ib also carried her rose.

* * *

As they came back out through the door, the letters changed which seemed to spell out "THIEVES". They were also red as blood which made Giselle feel more and more frightened for their lives. There was another warning about the roses, telling them that they were the weights of their own lives. 

"Thief? Thief?!" Eloise gasped at the words. "We're not thieves!"

They rushed back into the next hallway and the door and stairs they came down in were no longer there. They then saw another hallway with another door and another painting which almost resembled a fish. They soon used the blue key and came into a mostly green room that had paintings of various insects.

"This almost reminds me of The Queen of Hearts' garden from Alice in Wonderland." Giselle remarked.

"Gissy?" Eloise pouted.

"What is it, Ellie?" Giselle asked.

"I wish Nanny were here," Eloise frowned. "Nanny's not scared of anything, but I am."

"Oh, Eloise," Giselle soothed as she hugged her little sister. "I'm sure we can get through this. I wish Nanny were here too, believe you, me."

A dot seemed to follow them around which made them come over. Ib came a bit closer to see that it was just a bug, putting their fears to rest a little.

"I love paintings," The bug spoke to them. "My painting is especially cool. I'd like to see it again, but it's kinda far away..."

"Erm... Okay... Mr. Bug...?" Eloise blinked.

"I'm an ant." The bug replied. 

"Well, uh, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Ant," Giselle then said, a bit warily. "I hope you don't bother a picnic that we happen to have some time in Central Park."

"_'Beware of edges'_." Ib read a sign aloud.

The girls soon came to take a look at the walls to see the paintings. There was a ladybug, a bee, a butterfly, and a spider which startled Giselle as she was not very fond of spiders herself. They walked down more to see other paintings a caterpillar becoming a butterfly with four stages: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and the Last Chapter.

"That's the metamorphosis," Giselle said to the girls. "Can you say 'metamorphosis'?"

Eloise and Ib tried to do that, but they stumbled over the word a bit, as they were only children.

"Yes, it's a 'rawther' difficult word to say," Giselle replied. "It's the process that makes a caterpillar into a butterfly. Or like how a baby becomes a child and then an adult."

"We 'metamorize' too?" Eloise asked.

"Yes, you could say that," Giselle smiled softly. "Like when I was a baby."

"You were a baby?" Eloise asked like that was unheard of.

"Yes, Ellie, we were all babies once," Giselle chuckled. "Even dear old Nanny was a baby once."

They came through another door before they were stopped by a giant hole in the floor. 

"We better not cross that," Giselle suggested. "I doubt we would be able to make it."

"Maybe we should find something to pass through it?" Ib piped up.

Giselle and Eloise looked thoughtful from that as they left the room. However, Giselle touched the edge which made a hand reach out and grab her which made her yell out.

"That hurt!" The teenage girl cried out as she grabbed her shoulder.

"Gissy!" Eloise cried out. "Gissy, are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, I think so..." Giselle said softly. "That just really hurt."

"I guess that's what the sign meant." Ib replied.

Giselle checked her rose which seemed to be missing a petal. That also seemed to be what the warning was about from earlier after they had obtained the roses. Giselle held Eloise and Ib closely to protect them from the grabbing hands as that could lead to a premature death before they made it to the other side to see the ant painting.

"A painting of an ant," Giselle remarked. "...It looks like it can be taken off the wall..."

"Should we take it for that hole we saw earlier?" Ib asked.

"Yes, I think that we should," Giselle replied. "We might not be able to find a way out of here soon, but it should help us in our journey."

They soon took the painting with them while being very, very, very careful from the edges as the hands wanted to grab them and possibly kill them. 

"Oh, that's my painting," The ant said as it spotted the painting with them. "It's just as cool as I remember it." it then stared at the painting before walking off which left Giselle a bit perplexed.

* * *

They came back to the door and laid down the ant painting to use as a bridge to cross the hole in the floor. Ib and Eloise came first before Giselle followed after them, though the painting was a little ruined from their footsteps. They came through the other side to see a green key with a new painting and a headless mannequin like the ladies in their yellow, red, and blue dresses from earlier. 

As soon as the girls collected the key, that made the mannequin step out at them which made the girls scream out. They rushed through the door, passing through the painting again which made a big hole appear through the painting which made the mannequin follow them right through it and fall right through the pit. Eloise and Ib panted a bit as Giselle took a look through the painting before she followed the younger girls out to keep on going. 

"I bet we could use that green key right about now," Giselle suggested as they came through the path again, avoiding the grabbing arms. "Come on, girls."

Eloise and Ib squeezed Giselle's free hands as they carefully walked down the path together while avoiding the edges as carefully as possible. They used the green key and came into yet another room which seemed to have eyes following them.

"There's a fish-shaped hole in the wall." Eloise soon pointed out.

"We'll probably worry about that later." Giselle suggested.

They soon came in through a door. It was a bit haunting with red curtains everywhere and a few stick figures. It was a bit disturbing to say the least. 

"Play hide and seek?" A voice asked them which felt a bit chilling. 

Dots splattered all over the various walls from that.

"I normally play hide and seek in the lobby, but I'm not sure about this game." Eloise gulped a little.

"These dots... They are buttons..." Ib said to her friends. "Should we press one of them?"

"I-I don't know..." Giselle said as she stepped back before seeing another button and pressed it. "I'm not sure what to do."

A painting was shown to Giselle which seemed to be the girls lying on the floor, dead. It was a very sinister painting. Ib pressed another button which seemed to have a musical note that said "OUT" on it. Eloise pressed another button which showed the painting of a stick figure and it asked them if they wanted to find the prize as they found the stick figure. Luckily, the buttons didn't seem to hurt them, so they kept as calm as they could from the freaky atmosphere.

Giselle pressed another button which made her flinch as a red handprint slapped out onto her. That seemed like it would be bad, but luckily, it didn't seem to be that much. Ib wandered farther from the group before she found a wooden fish-head as she decided to pick it up. Giselle found another painting which seemed to be a naked woman which then screamed and slapped her, hurting her a bit. Finally, there was a painting of a crescent moon which made the lights go very dim. 

They soon left the room as Ib carried the wooden fish-head.

"Where did you find that?" Eloise asked Ib.

"It was in the other room," Ib replied. "I have a hopeful feeling about this."

They came into the next room which seemed to be for storage of some sorts. There were headless mannequins everywhere with some statues and head busts as well as assorted boxes. Giselle looked inside a box and found a notepad with blank pages and found a pen to go with it, she then scribbled a bit on the cover with the pen and saw that it still had ink that worked, so she decided to collect them as a handy dandy notebook. You never know when this might come in handy later. The lights dimmed in there as well before it was a bit dark for them, but not too terribly dark. After one box was touched, a head seemed to move before it fell to the floor, shattering as the lights flickered on and off. It was like they were in a horror movie, only there was no Orson Welles. 

The rose petals soon seemed to bloom into extra petals somehow. Giselle looked curious, but as Nanny always told her "Never look a gift horse in the mouth", so she shrugged it off for the time being as she wandered off more with Eloise and Ib. They soon found a fish key which seemed important before they came back over to the fish-shaped hole, so they used the fish key as Ib suggested it would be a good idea. The eyes grew wide as the room shook with a deep mew that sounded like it came from a grumpy cat. The door also opened for them with some cat meows.

"Do you like cats, Eloise?" Ib asked.

"Not so much," Eloise shrugged. "We have a dog back home though that looks like a cat."

"Yes, his name is Weenie." Giselle added from that.

"I wish I had a pet." Ib said from that.

"I also have a turtle named Skipperdee." Eloise then said.

"A turtle?" Ib asked.

"Yes," Eloise smiled. "The Plaza is the only hotel in the world that will allow you to have a turtle. Our mother said so." she then added.

The sight of the door was both adorable and terrifying at the same time. They came down to the path which was yet another room with other sights to see. 

"You should not stick your tongue out like that," Eloise told one painting that had its tongue out. "That's rude, rude, rude."

The painting then shot out some spit at Eloise which made her yelp out.

"Did that hurt?" Giselle asked Eloise.

"Yes, it did a little," Eloise pouted. "I'm not sure why though."

"Let's just try to be careful around this place, okay, Ellie?" Giselle reminded her little sister. 

"Okay, Gissy." Eloise said softly.

The tongue kept wiggling as they passed through, avoiding the spit as best as they could while in this strange, fabricated world. There was a sign that told them "Beware of lips". That would had been a lot more helpful just a few seconds ago... However, they saw a pair of lips on the other side.

"Hungry... Give food..." The lips growled at them.

Giselle pulled Eloise and Ib out of the way because it was likely that that could hurt them somehow. 

"There's a totally white painting over here." Ib pointed out.

Eloise scrunched up her eyes. "Actually, if you look closer, there's a small number in the center." she then said.

"What is it, Eloise?" Giselle then asked.

"It seems to be the number 9." Eloise replied.

"Like my age." Ib piped up from that.

"I wonder what that could mean?" Giselle pondered as they wandered away from the strange painting. 

There was also a note that said _"Just when you've forgotten"_. However, that seemed to be a warning about the edges as a hand popped out to grab them before they found a series of dolls hanging upside down from the ceiling in the next section. Giselle advised Eloise and Ib not to take any of the dolls as they passed through, though one doll fell onto the floor. 

"Don't grab that doll," Giselle suggested before she took a closer look for herself. "Oh, the doll's clothes have a small number on them." she the observed.

"What is it?" Ib asked.

"18." Giselle replied.

"Giselle, you are almost 18," Eloise replied. "Does that seem important?"

"I don't know if it's about my age, but we better remember that for later," Giselle suggested. "Yes?"

Ib nodded as that sounded like a good idea.

"Yes, yes, yes." Eloise added.

"I better use this," Giselle said as she took out the notepad she acquired earlier as she wrote down the numbers they had encountered so far, using the pen. "9... 18..."

"There's a code on this door that has to be solved," Ib said as she came to the end of the hall to find a yellow door. "X x X + X =?"

"That must be what the numbers are for," Giselle said. "It's some sort of Math puzzle we have to solve."

"I do not like Math." Eloise pouted.

"I know you don't, Ellie, but don't worry," Giselle replied. "I'll take care of the Math problem whenever the time comes. I'm the head of my class back in school, among other subjects."

* * *

They soon came away from that door briefly before they came to the other yellow door, passing through the dolls carefully. That door was unlocked, but it was also called "The Liars' Room". They saw a series of portraits hung up on the walls with some clues underneath their frames. 

"_'Stand in front of the statue, Go West three steps, then South one step'_," Giselle read aloud. "_'That's the answer'_?"

"What does that mean?" Eloise asked. 

"I'm afraid I don't know," Giselle sighed before they came to the next portrait. "_'Stand in front of the statue, Go East four steps, Then North two steps, That's the answer'_."

"_'The one in white speaks the truth'._" Eloise read the other.

"_'The only truth-speaker wears green'_." Ib read the next.

"_'Stand in front of the statue, Go East two steps, Then South two steps, that's the answer'_." Giselle read the next.

"_'I agree with the one in yellow'._" Eloise and Ib read the final one together.

"What could it all mean?" Giselle wondered. "One of them has to at least be telling the truth."

"You think that they are all lying?" Eloise asked.

"Well, maybe not all of them, but this is called The Liars' Room," Giselle reminded her sister. "They could be trying to trick us."

Eloise paused thoughtfully, as much as her six-year-old mind could. "...You could be right..." she then said.

* * *

They soon came in through the other door to find the white statue as Giselle looked over her notes so far that the portraits had told them and tried to follow the instructions. She advised Eloise and Ib to stay out of this in case she might get seriously hurt. Giselle picked up the loose tile that was under her feet after she took the steps and found another number: 4. 

"Giselle, you did it!" Eloise cheered. 

They soon heard a glass-shattering sound which felt chilling to all three girls. What happened? They soon came back into the other room, only to find a red substance splattered everywhere. Giselle didn't mean to feel or come off as graphic, but based on what they had been through so far, she assumed that the red substance was blood and not paint. Of course, she didn't tell Eloise or Ib that out loud. It didn't help that the portraits all suddenly had knives in their possession during their absence. 

"LIAR!" The portraits all screamed. 

They soon left the room and went to solve the puzzle with the numbers they had in order to advance to the next room. They came to the password on the door and filled in the numbers to solve the puzzle which would then unlock the door. Luckily, Giselle could solve the puzzle due to her high school education. After all, Eloise and Ib were only six and nine. 

There was a sound, so the girls made it into a room filled with trees with the portrait of a high tree branch with an apple that matched the apple in one of the center trees. An apple on a tree sculpture seemed useful, so they obtained the wooden apple. Another doll fell from the ceiling as they left the room, but it didn't have anything imporrtant on it, so they ignored it. 

They soon came to the lips that were down up front and they remembered that they had to beware of the lips. Eloise took out the apple and decided to feed it to the lips to see what would happen. 

"This tasty..." The lips said as they seemed to like the apple. "I let you pass now... Go through my mouth..." The lips then opened wide which felt a bit like a startling sight as Giselle took the girls' hands before they stepped in through the mouth.

* * *

They then made it into the next room which had portraits of a guillotine which made Giselle feel pale. The girls passed through the various shots, but then Giselle made the girls stop moving as a sharp blade shot right down and hit the floor, cracking it slightly. The girls screamed a bit as that scared them worse than anything that ever could before, such as trick-or-treating on the fifth floor back at the hotel. Luckily, the blade moved, so they took that time to pass through down the stairs. 

"Oh... So much, much, much red..." Eloise said as they came to the next room. "Leon would probably like it here."

"Who is Leon?" Ib asked.

"A very good friend of mine who is more than he appears to be." Eloise hinted, though Giselle knew very exactly what her little sister meant. 

Some time ago, the Plaza Hotel had a Debutante Ball with a special guest also arriving: The Prince of Kushin, Kentaro. Though they knew him as Leon as he wanted to be a normal boy and have fun and he became Eloise's date to the ball. Eloise insisted that she didn't like-like Leon, though Giselle thought otherwise, especially with how much he treated her like a lady and she showed him a very good time during his visit to New York City.

* * *

As they came around the room, Giselle saw something running off from the corner of her eye which made her yelp slightly. They passed by a portrait which looked like a pigeon blowing a horn on the beach. They came in through a red door next which showed them a blue sculpture of a young woman which didn't have much to it. Opposite of it, there was a red sculpture of a young woman. There was a portrait of a lady in red who almost resembled an older looking Ib. At least, that's how Giselle saw it. 

However, after looking at her, the Lady in Red soon sprung to life and began to chase them.

"RUN!" Giselle told the girls. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

The girls yelped as they ran off together to avoid The Lady in Red which seemed dangerous. There was another door, but it was locked as Giselle tried to figure out what to do for the girls as she felt her heartbeat. The Lady in Red followed them wherever they went, but they soon found a red key from where she once was before they used it to the other door and rushed inside as they all hyperventilated and felt scared to death.

* * *

The next room appeared to be a library as there were several bookshelves shown. Eloise and Ib looked curious of the books, but of course, they couldn't understand most of the words, and Ib didn't seem to even know them. A scrap of paper was shown between a couple of books and it read: HAVING FUN? 

A storybook was also shown, mostly drawn in crayon. 

"A coloring book!" Ib piped up.

* * *

The book seemed to be a play as red curtains were shown. Carrie Careless and the Galette des Rois. A group of four was shown as the curtains drew back to show a cake in the center.

"Happy Birthday!" The group cheered. 

"Thanks, guys!" The blue person beamed. 

"For your special day, we made a Galette des Rois!" The pink person announced. 

"What's that?" The blue person asked.

"There's a coin in this pie... And if you eat the slice with the coin in it... Then you'll be a happy person!" The pink person replied. 

"That sounds like fun!" The blue person remarked. 

"Doesn't it?" The pink person cooed before taking out a knife. "Okay, let's divide it up!"

The curtains moved before the cake was divided into four slices for each of them. 

"Now pick the slice you want!" The pink person told the blue person. 

"Let's eat!" The blue person suggested as the other two people hopped around happily.

The curtains moved again as the group began to eat the cake together. 

"Aah!" The blue person yelped.

"What is it?" The pink person asked.

"I think I just swallowed something hard!" The blue person cried out. 

"Ahaha! Oh, Carrie!" The pink person laughed. 

"It must've been the coin!" The yellow person piped up.

"What do I do...?" Carrie asked, a bit worriedly. 

"It's fine!" The pink person told her. "The coin's small! Well, I'll clean this up now!"

The curtains moved to show an older pink person as the smaller pink person came by. 

"What's wrong, Mom?" The young pink person asked.

"Have you seen the key to the study?" 'Mom' asked with concern in her voice. 

"To the study?" The pink person repeated. "It's always right here on this table--" They then took a look to see something gold and shiny on the table which appeared to be a coin. "...Huh? It's the coin! The coin that should've been put in the pie... Could it be that...?"

"Where could it have gone?" 'Mom' pondered. "Oh, my dear will be so upset..."

"What do I... Do...?" The pink person asked with concern as the plate was lowered which made the knife hit the floor. 

The curtains then moved as the pink person ran with the knife. Giselle told Eloise to never, never, never do such a thing. 

"Looks like I was just as careless as Carrie." The pink person then said. 

The curtains moved and Giselle's chocolate-brown eyes widened with a very large jaw drop as the pink person was covered in blood now and had found the key somehow. As the pink person decided to unlock the door after finding the key, the girls all suddenly heard a real door opening.

* * *

"Th-The door!" Ib cried out as they put the storybook away.

They came in through the door after it had unlocked for them. There were blue petals and blood on the floor which left the three girls all very curious as there was a missing painting of The Lady in Blue.

"More petals..." Ib said as they followed the trail. "I don't know why, but I know these flowers are important."

"I think so too, Ib." Giselle replied.

"Me too." Eloise added.

* * *

They soon came into the next hallway which had a fallen young man in the middle of the floor. He looked slightly older than Giselle with a bushel of purple hair and a torn blue coat. The young man grunted, but he was holding on tightly to a small key before Ib looked too curious to ignore it, so she decided to collect it. The young man was also in pain which worried the girls about him.

They came back to another door that was locked before. They then used the small key to unlock it. Giselle just hoped that whoever that young man was wasn't dead. They found the missing Lady in Blue as she appeared to be eating blue petals and Giselle found a bare blue rose. The blue rose only had a few petals left, so Giselle risked getting hurt a little as she grabbed the blue rose and ran as fast as she could with Eloise and Ib away from The Lady in Blue as the ladies seemed to like rose petals.

The Lady in Blue broke through the window out the door they came from and she continued to chase them. Giselle whimpered as she tried very hard not to cry as she really wished that Nanny was there with them right now as she tried to be brave for Eloise and Ib, but it felt impossible when she felt scared to death herself. How do grown-ups do this all the time? 

They soon found a vase full of water and decided to put all of the roses inside, including the blue rose they just found. They soon restored the roses with petals and since the young man they found before was surrounded by blue rose petals, Giselle thought that maybe that rose belonged to the young man. Giselle held out the blue rose as soon as they came back to the young man and that seemed to be enough to wake him up.

"...What's this? The pain is gone?" The young man mumbled to himself before he shrieked at the girls with a glare. "Wh-What is it now?! T-There's nothing left for you to take, I tell you!"

"Whoa, ease up there, buddy!" Giselle cried out. "We're not going to hurt you!"

The young man looked at them, pausing briefly as he took a closer look. "W-Wait... Dear me... Could you all be someone from the gallery?" he then asked softly once he calmed himself down.

"Um... Yes, we are..." Giselle replied.

"So you are! Oh, thank heavens!" The young man smiled in relief. "There's someone here besides me!"

"Yes, this rose is yours, right?" Ib asked as she held out the blue rose.

"Yes..." The young man said as he accepted the rose. "Thank you very much. Who are you?"

"I am Eloise," The blonde girl spoke up. "I am six."

"My name is Ib." The brown-haired girl added. 

"I'm Giselle and I am 17." Giselle concluded.

"Lovely names, all of you," The young man replied. "I'm Garry and I'm 21." 

They all shared a quick introduction with each other about how they all got to where they are now in this "rawther" unusual adventure. 


	4. Chapter 4

"So I see..." Garry soon said after a long introduction and brief recap on what had happened to the young almost adult girl and two little girls. "You don't have any clue how things got to this point either."

"I'm afraid so, yes." Giselle nodded.

"It would seem we wound up in similar situations, I have to say..." Garry replied mysteriously before he brought out his blue rose. "Even down to these roses. Wounds appear on me when my rose loses its petals. I thought I was a goner there... Thank you for getting it back."

"You're welcome." The girls replied politely.

"Well, now, girls, it's dangerous for a child to be alone," Garry said to Eloise and Ib before looking towards Giselle. "You're very lucky that your big sister is here to protect you."

Eloise looked very grateful for that fact while Ib gave a small smile.

"Now, first thing's first, we better find a way out," Garry said before he held out his hand for Ib to hold while Giselle would hold Eloise's hand. "I think I'll go mad if I stay in this dreaded place for too long. I'm afraid I can't let a bunch of girls wander into danger, so I'll go with you."

"Yes, yes, yes," Giselle nodded. "We should stick together, Garry."

"What a lovely accent you have, Giselle," Garry smiled. "Are you from Manchester?"

"Oh, um, no," Giselle chuckled bashfully. "I used to go to boarding school in London, plus our caretaker is from Hartford. She's been with us when Eloise was about to be born, so I guess she rubbed off on me."

"Still a lovely accent nonetheless," Garry smiled. "Now, let's go, girls!"

And so, they walked off together before the tongue dangling portrait soon spit in the middle of the floor which startled the young man. 

"HYEEEEK!" Garry shrieked as he fell on his back suddenly.

Eloise and Ib couldn't help but giggle at Garry's fearful cry as it was a little funny. 

"Girls~..." Giselle lightly called as that seemed rude.

"Ahem! I was just startled is all..." Garry said bashfully before he got back up on his feet. "Anyways, let's keep going and look out for such bizarre things as that."

* * *

And so, they walked off with their new friend as they tried to look for a way out of the gallery. Giselle did her best to put on a brave face. If it was one thing she knew about small children is that if you were worried, they would suddenly feel worried and a worried child was a handful to deal with, especially with their wild imaginations and perspectives on the world around them. They soon walked into the next hallway and stumbled into the headless statue that blocked one door. 

"What a lousy place for this thing!" Garry huffed. "Step back a tad, would you, girls?" he then requested as he would take care of the problem.

The girls stepped out of the way as Garry mustered up his strength and pushed the headless statue out of the way. After all, he was a bit stronger and older than them, so it was nothing compared to him. 

"Ta-da!" Garry announced with a smile. "Now we can proceed. All right, let's go!"

They soon went in through the door now that they could leave the red room.

* * *

And so, they ended up in the gray room, reminding Eloise and Giselle of the hotel's laundry room where the maids such as Rose, Esperanza (a pair of sisters and Rose was Eloise's friend Margarita's mother who lived with her father, but often visited), Johanna the Day Maid (who was a dear friend of Nanny's), Mabel the Afternoon Maid (who often shared rumors and gossip on Eloise and Giselle's mother, such as spending a lot of time with various men she would meet in her travels to Europe and Paris), and Lily the Night Maid (who married the engineer of the subway and often handed out extra pillowcases and soap). They saw portraits on both sides of a bride and groom with Grieving Hands of the bride at the end of each portrait. Giselle noticed they were missing some rings, so maybe that would help calm them down. 

"I went to a wedding once," Eloise said. "The bride's flower girl was sick and she asked me to replace her. I also go to all of the weddings in The White & Gold Room and I usually stay for the reception."

"You have quite an interesting life for a child of six." Garry said in amusement.

"Yes." Eloise nodded.

"She really does.," Giselle chuckled a bit. "Now... I think we should look for some wedding rings and maybe the bride won't be in such grief."

"...Perhaps she needs a new flower girl?" Eloise piped up as they searched the hallways of the gray room.

They came to the end of one hallway and Ib let out a yelp as suddenly, eyeballs appeared in the middle of the floor. Garry let out a horrified scream, especially as one eye was pink, red, and puffy. Perhaps it had a congestion problem. 

"What is that?!" Garry gulped. "Gross is what!"

"I'm afraid you're right, Garry." Giselle agreed as she felt repulsed by the eyeballs.

"Giselle, why are there eyes on the floor?" Eloise asked her older sister.

"I'm afraid I don't know, El," Giselle replied. "But I don't like it!"

They soon walked away and came into another room which appeared to be a maze. A few things stuck out from the gray room which were red, including a mannequin's dress with a couple of blood splatters. Things were starting to get very interesting around here indeed. Even "rawther" unusual. They left the room for now before they soon passed by the eyeballs again and luckily, they didn't attack as they made it down the hall.

* * *

They passed more interesting portraits and soon came in through one door which had stools and painting easels everywhere.

"Ronda would love it here." Giselle said.

"A friend of yours?" Ib spoke up.

"Yes, yes, yes," Giselle nodded. "She just absolutely loves art. I hope she can go to a school for it after graduation."

"That means Giselle will be all done with school." Eloise then explained what graduation was.

"Right." Giselle said softly as that just reminded her that she probably had to find a job after finishing school, though Nanny assured her she could stay home for as long as she would like which the older girl hoped to do, especially since "Mother" was almost never home in New York City.

It seemed to be important to arrange the stools in a certain way. The girls and Garry did all they could, trying to use their brains and strategy to solve the puzzle before they soon did it and something appeared in the stool for their feat. It appeared to be eyedrops. These could be very useful. They soon returned to the eyeball swarm and noticed that the congested eye stared at them as though it could sense the eyedrops. The eye seemed to blink once it was cured before staring intentely to the wall and gave the eyedrops back.

"You're welcome, Mr. Eye." Eloise said with a curtsy.

"This is just getting more and more queer." Giselle remarked to herself.

The wall then seemed to change colors as a secret passageway was shown and found. Giselle came into the room as she told the others to stay back for just in case as she found something on the ground.

"What was it, Giselle?" Garry asked as the girl came back.

"Just a red glass ball," Giselle replied before looking at Eloise. "And no, we're not going to bounce it or add it to our marble collection."

"Yes, Giselle." Eloise said softly.

Giselle nodded before walking back out into the hallway with Garry, Eloise, and Ib. They found a portrait of a white snake and Giselle thought maybe the red glass ball belonged there and put it inside the eye socket which made another portrait on the right of it fall to the floor. 

"There is a writing on the back of the portrait." Ib piped up.

"What does it say?" Garry asked.

"It says 'Behind the big tree'." Ib read aloud.

"Hmm... I guess that's a clue to something," Giselle remarked. "Possibly a clue on where those rings must be for the grieving bride's hands."

"You might be right." Garry agreed.

The group wandered out a bit before they noticed a door that wasn't there before. They all took deep breaths and tried to calm down before coming in through the door to see four different pieces of artwork. The lights flickered on and off which seemed to be a bit spooky at first. 

"This one looks like a glass of wine." Giselle said as she approached the first one on the left.

"A wine sofa," Garry said out of amusement and intrigue. "That doesn't look like very comfortable sitting."

"This one is... Um... Uh..." Eloise said to a head bust, trying to read the plaque aloud.

Giselle took a look to help her little sister out. "Sound it out." she then suggested.

"Mel... Melon... Melon... Ch... Ch... Olly?" Eloise tried.

"Close enough, but it's melancholy'," Giselle said with slow pronunciation. "It's a very, very, very sad feeling."

Eloise then nodded as she learned a new word. 

"I didn't know that." Ib replied as that word was new to her too.

"Melancholy, huh?" Garry remarked. "Well really, who wouldn't be in a place like this?"

They then came to a colorful looking skeleton which was known as "Puzzle". 

"Don't be scared," Giselle assured Eloise and Ib. "These aren't real bones."

They then came to the final piece which appeared to be a shrub or a bush of some kind. 

"You gotta be pretty clever to come up with this stuff." Garry marveled at the sight, feeling curious and amazed.

"Wait! It's a tree!" Giselle realized. "Something was said about being behind a tree. Remember?" she then asked the others.

"Right!" Eloise added as she remembered that too. "And there's something gleaming behind the leaves! Can I go get it, Gissy?" she then asked her sister.

"All right, but be careful." Giselle advised.

Eloise went behind the leaves and she soon found a silver ring. Giselle looked relieved and blessed as that seemed to be one missing clue from when they started in the gray room. 

"Isn't this... A wedding ring?!" Garry's visible eye widened. "Now what would this be doing here?"

* * *

They soon left the room and came back to the bride's grabbing hands. Since Eloise had the ring, Giselle told her younger sister where to put the ring and it was on the left ring finger which soon made the hands stop wiggling. The bride in the portrait smiled warmly before she soon tossed her flower bouquet and it fell out from the painting and ended up in Eloise's arms in an instant. 

"Good thinking, Giselle." Garry smiled.

"Thanks, Garry." Giselle replied bashfully. 

"I do hope my Lavender has a lovely bouquet like that someday." Garry then said.

"Erm... Who's Lavender?" Giselle asked.

"My fiancée," Garry explained. "I'm sorry you cannot meet her right now, but she is a very lovely girl."

Giselle felt a little jealous at first, but she decided not to be rude about it, though maybe Garry was best as a friend. "Well... I'm happy for you," she then said to him softly. "I hope you can go back to her and have a joyful wedding."

"Thank you, I hope so too." Garry smiled warmly as he hoped he would get out of here and go back home to his dearly beloved.

The bride and groom were soon both blessed and it was time to go onto the next puzzle. A lot of time passed. It felt like an eternity as Garry and Giselle did whatever they could to get Eloise and Ib out of the way of certain paintings that could actually harm them. Garry wasn't as good at staying brave for Ib as Giselle was for Eloise, but it was hard to blame him really. It seemed to get worse every step of the way, but it was a lot better with Garry there as he was the real adult after all. Giselle just thought about the times whenever Eloise would have a nightmare.

* * *

_Giselle found herself imagining those times. She was fast asleep in her bed as were Eloise and Nanny. Sometimes Eloise would go to sleep right away, but not very often. Sometimes, Weenie, Skipperdee, and Eloise would go into the closet and look around for a while and they would find themselves in a cave as Eloise's imagination would conquer over reality. Eloise would drag herself through her stomach along with the pug dog and turtle and her heart would be beating fast. Not even witch hazel cotton on her toenails to ward off evil spirits could help her. _

_This was one of the reasons Nanny was thankful that Giselle had come back home to keep an eye on her little sister and go to the local prep school rather than a boarding school across the country. Nanny would be suddenly woken up with a flashlight in her face and she would have to soothe Eloise from her nightmares or any "wild animals" that were in the closet like the time they visited Africa for a holiday. Nanny often had to wake up to spoil and pamper Eloise while she was, in the six-year-old girl's words, "Out of her head with fever and pain". After all, she was only six. However, since Giselle was home, the teenage girl suggested that if her little sister were to have a nightmare to come call for her instead of Nanny so that the older woman could get as much rest as she could._

_"Ellie, did you have another nightmare?" Giselle asked as she peeked into her little sister's room of the suite as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed._

_"Yes," Eloise pouted as she hugged her doll who was named Saylor. "The storm is being quite rumbly and rude."_

_"I'm sorry about that," Giselle coaxed before she came into bed with her little sister and held onto her, gently stroking her blonde hair. "Do you feel scared?"_

_"...Not too much," Eloise said softly before looking down to her pet turtle. "...But I think Skipperdee might be."_

_"Well, let's share a song for Skipperdee to help get back to sleep now," Giselle smiled. "Nanny used to sing this to me before you were born and a storm bothered me."_

_Eloise smiled back hopefully as she loved it when her big sister would sing to her. _

_"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with strings~," Giselle began to sing as Weenie and Skipperdee seemed to bob their heads to the song as the girl swung herself and Eloise back and forth a bit to the beat of the song. "These are a few of my favorite things, Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, Doorbells and sleigh bells, And schnitzel with noodles~"_

_"What's... Um... Shnit... That thing you just said?" Eloise spoke up. _

_"It's meat from German, it's very, very, very yummy actually," Giselle replied before she kept going. "Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, These are a few of my favorite things, Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes~"_

_"I like those too." Eloise smiled._

_"Silver-white winters that melt into springs, These are a few of my favorite things~," Giselle smiled back as she continued. "When the dog bites~"_

_Weenie let out a small growl like that part of the song offended him._

_"When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things... And then I don't feel so bad~" Giselle soon concluded as Eloise seemed to feel much better and fell asleep in her big sister's arms. "...Eloise? Eloise?"_

_Eloise's only response was a light snore as she drifted off before the song ended. _

_"Good night, Eloise." Giselle said softly as she soon began to leave the room, but just as she got to the door to shut it for the night..._

_"Gissy?" Eloise's voice piped up as she hugged her doll._

_"Yes, Ellie?" Giselle replied from the door._

_"Could you leave the door open to a crack with the hall light on?" Eloise asked softly before looking down. "...I think Skipperdee would feel much better with it."_

_"...Of course," Giselle smiled softly as she did as her sister asked. "Good night."_

_"Good night, Giselle." Eloise smiled back before falling back asleep._

* * *

"Giselle... Giselle..." A voice called.

Giselle squeezed her eyes shut before rubbing her eyes and opened them again.

"Are you okay?" Garry asked. "You got quiet all of a sudden."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Giselle said softly. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind about this whole art gallery visit."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Garry nodded before looking at the younger girls. "How about you two? You okay?" he then asked with a smile, serene smile.

"Yeah!" Eloise and Ib replied, slightly startled, but not too scared this time.

"Come on, let's hide in here until the commotion dies down," Garry said before he found a door and decided to shut all of them inside of it. "There's nothing in here, but..."

The four soon found a mirror and simply looked into it to see themselves there. There was a mannequin head though. When did that get in here? 

"Was this always here?" Garry wondered. 

The head soon appeared to be right behind them in the reflection which startled Garry. Eloise and Ib couldn't help but laugh a little at Garry's screams of fear.

"W-W-What is that?!" Garry gulped as he looked like he was about to kick it.

"It's just a mannequin," Eloise smiled softly. "No need to hurt it."

"You're right... I guess that was a bit immature of me," Garry replied, a bit more relaxed now. "Let's go then."

They soon left the room as more headless statues and portrait women came out to them. Garry decided to take the lead to make sure the girls would be safe away from the possessed artwork. 

"Garry, I see an open door!" Giselle spoke up.

"Come on, let's go!" Garry replied as he ran them through the door.

* * *

Ib let out a sigh of both relief and sadness. Garry shut the door behind them as they took the time to catch their breaths. 

"That was a close one..." The young man sighed.

Ib and Eloise suddenly let out shrieks. 

"Girls?" Giselle gasped. "What is it?"

"Th-Those paintings..." Eloise said softly. 

"Mom... Dad..." Ib stammered as she saw a portrait of her parents.

"Nanny... Phillip..." Eloise added at the one she found.

"Nanny..." Giselle repeated as her heart sank. "Why are they in a painting?"

"You're saying these are your parents?" Garry asked.

"Yes, Ib's parents and mine and Eloise's nanny and Eloise's tutor." Giselle explained.

"I suppose Ib does resemble her parents," Garry remarked. "Where are your parents, Eloise and Giselle?"

"Mother goes to Paris and to Europe and always sends for us if there's some sun or something like that." Eloise spoke up while Giselle just felt cold and distant from that question and the topic of their mother, though their father was another story which just made the teenage girl feel like crying.

"But why would such paintings be down here?" Garry wondered as Giselle wiped the tear rolling down her cheek away before anyone else could see it. 

The girls were just quiet from Garry's speaking.

"Girls... Are you okay?" Garry then asked as they were silent. "You don't look so good."

Suddenly, Ib and Eloise fell in the middle of the floor.

"GIRLS!" Garry yelped.

"Oh, my!" Giselle gasped once she snapped herself out of her trance and saw what had happened. "Ellie, are you alright?"

"Hey, girls, what's wrong?" Garry asked with a frown as the girls seemed to black out before looking at Giselle. "Help me get them settled."

"Of course." Giselle nodded as she helped out while thinking about when she had to help out with Nanny back when Eloise was just a baby, but something else tragic happened around when the teenage girl's baby sister was just that: a baby. 

Eloise and Ib were both in the middle of a safe floor and Garry gave them his jacket to comfort them as this art gallery trip proved to be stressful and overwhelming for them. Giselle looked down at them as she thought of another memory.

* * *

_Giselle was only 10 when this happened and was almost 11 as her birthday was coming very soon. It also happened to be Valentine's Day when she would become another year of age. Young Giselle stared out the window as she hugged her knees, sitting on the seating of her window as something had happened that she wished hadn't happened or at least it would come back in a positive way somehow, though it seemed unlikely. _

_She liked being an older sister, it was actually a lot of fun, even though a lot of friends, especially boys, in school would tease her and said that a new baby was nothing but trouble. She also liked the company of Nanny who was originally there to help Eloise and Giselle's mother around the house and help take care of the baby. She did not live close to them, but she had her own place not too far away and would come first thing in the morning to help prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the mother and daughters as well as feeding and changing Eloise when necessary. _

_However, one day, Giselle turned her head as she heard the sounds of crying. Nanny was running a little late and her mother to stay home and wait for the older woman to come over. Giselle wasn't sure what to do, she had tried to call Nanny, but she wasn't picking up her telephone and her own mother appeared to be too busy. The crying grew louder and stronger which made Giselle's heart break as it always hurt her to hear her baby sister crying, especially if it wasn't for a new diaper or a bottle. She just hoped it wasn't a new diaper considering Giselle didn't know how to change a baby quite yet, but she asked Nanny to help teach her for in case situations like this would happen. _

_Giselle soon came into the nursery as Eloise cried her tiny eyes out and wriggled. "Oh, Ellie, what ever is wrong?" she then pouted as she came over to the crib to see her baby sister in distress before she soon picked her up and held her, remembering the proper training she was given on how to hold her little sister. _

_Eloise simply kept crying as her eyes were nearly as pink as the bedroom. Giselle checked her baby sister's diaper, but luckily it was clean. Giselle then tried to give Eloise her bottle, but that didn't seem to do the trick either. A pigeon seemed to fly by the window of the nursery and tilted its head as it looked at the two sisters._

_Giselle then thought of a soothing song to help out as Nanny sang this to her for when the older woman stayed overnight for emergencies. After all, Nanny wasn't just there for Eloise, but also Giselle whenever the situation called for it. _

_"Would you like me to sing you a lullaby?" Giselle offered to Eloise._

_Eloise seemed to stop crying and seemed to actually nod at her big sister. Giselle knew just what to sing as she came to the rocking chair in the room which was by the window as she opened the window to let fresh air inside. The pigeon seemed to coo and stare at the two sisters. The bird was inspiration for what Giselle would sing and she even sang it to Eloise when they were six and 17 and Eloise first found an interest in pigeons, including one who would stare at Eloise while the young girl would brush her teeth and fly off to the Sherry-Netherlands and a pigeon friend named Emily who had a baby born on Christmas morning who Eloise named Raphael._

_"Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul's, The little old bird woman comes, In her own special way to the people she calls, Come, buy my bags full of crumbs, Come feed the little birds, show them you care and you'll be glad if you do, Their young ones are hungry, Their nests are so bare~," Giselle began to sing the best that she could as she carried Eloise as the pigeon sat at the window sill, not disturbing them. "All it takes is tuppence from you, Feed the birds, tuppence a bag,, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag, 'Feed the birds', that's what she cries, While overhead, her birds fill the skies, All around the cathedral the saints and apostles, Look down as she sells her wares., Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling, Each time someone shows that he cares, Though her words are simple and few, Listen, listen, she's calling to you, 'Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag'~"_

_Eloise seemed to like the song so far._

_"Though her words are simple and few, Listen, listen, she's calling to you, 'Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag'~" Giselle sang softly before she finished the song ended and Eloise seemed to fall back asleep which had the older girl put her baby sister back into her crib. "...I will always be there for you, Eloise... I love you so much."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously I don't own the two songs used in this chapter and Lavender is an OC owned by a dear friend of mine.


	5. Chapter 5

Giselle lightly stroked her younger sister's golden locks they both inherited from their mother as she soothed the whimpering six-year-old, singing a lullaby she made up. She remembered when she did too. She sang it to Eloise on her first night at the Plaza Hotel after she left her boarding school in London to come live in New York City with Nanny and Eloise to keep an eye on her little sister. Eventually, the younger girls woke up to see Giselle and Garry looking down at them. 

"Ah... Morning, girls," Garry smiled as he approached the girls. "How are you feeling?"

"I had a nightmare." Ib pouted.

"Me too." Eloise added.

"Aw, poor girls." Giselle cooed as she stroked their hair gently and comfortingly like a surrogate mother.

"I see... You poor things," Garry agreed softly. "I can't say I'm surprised. Being exposed to such frightful sights, you know?"

"It's scarier than the hotel's boiler room on Halloween." Eloise pouted.

"She got locked in there once," Giselle said to Garry. "Luckily she had some walkie-talkies so that we could find her."

"Well, I guess it's good you two woke up," Garry then said. "I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier."

The girls bowed their heads, still feeling vulnerable and fearful.

"Ib, Eloise, would you take a look in the pockets of that coat?" Garry suggested as the girls were wrapped around in his coat as a substitute blanket. 

Ib and Eloise looked curious before they both checked one pocket and found a couple of pieces of candy.

"You can have that," Garry smiled warmly. "Feel free to eat it. Let's rest here a while longer before we set out again." he then suggested.

"You're our hero, Garry." Giselle smiled back.

"It's the least I could do, Giselle," Garry replied as the girls soon ate the candy and began to feel a little bit better. "Sorry I don't have candy to spare for you."

"Just remember to pack for three young girls next time." Giselle smirked playfully.

Garry chuckled at that. Ib soon picked up Garry's coat as Eloise got up and rushed over to her sister and the two sisters hugged each other warmly. 

"Oh, my coat!" Garry smiled. "Thanks, Ib."

"You're welcome, Garry." Ib smiled back softly before putting her rose in the vase to earn more petals.

Giselle and Eloise saw this and soon decided to do the same.

"So, you two must have quite the stories about yourselves based on what I've heard," Garry said to the sisters. "Do you care to share one while we rest up?"

"Well, I suppose we could tell you about the time we visited Moscow," Giselle smiled. "I'm quite fond of that vacation myself."

"Even more than when we went to Paris for the summer?" Eloise asked Giselle.

"Yes, even more than Paris," Giselle nodded for a personal reason, though she did enjoy visiting Paris where their mother lived, she preferred the Moscow vacation. "It was a 'rawther' long trip, but we made it."

"They were expecting us and this freezing wind was blowing and this snow was flying in this blizzard and all these people with all of these boots on took us and stamped us and whisked us around," Eloise added, sounding a bit mysterious. "They didn't examine our luggage; they knew what was in it. Moscow is absolutely Russian and The Rolls was waiting."

"The Rolls?" Garry pondered. "You mean like a sports car?"

"Yes, our grandmother sent it in by rail because she wanted us to be comfortable." Giselle replied.

"Your grandmother?" Garry asked. "I thought you went everywhere with her?"

Giselle then understood the confusion before shaking her head. "No, no, no. Nanny isn't our grandmother," she then explained. "She's very close to the family, especially for Eloise. We live with her and we go everywhere with her, like visiting in Moscow like we did this time or Paris like Eloise mentioned during the summer, and our mother even invited us to come to Hollywood before she suddenly had to fly to London for two weeks after she was just there."

"Your mother sounds so busy." Ib commented.

"Yes, she can be sometimes," Eloise replied. "We miss her a lot, but she always calls us at least once a day, otherwise we'd miss her too, too, too terribly. Sometimes when she calls though, Giselle says she has too much homework to talk to Mother."

"I see..." Garry said with a bit of a small gaze at Giselle.

"My turtle Skipperdee came down with a nervous cough so we had to send him back to New York to the Plaza by diplomatic pouch," Eloise then continued. "He was glad to go. Our mother knows The Ambassador and I was called Little Miss Diplomat."

"We also stayed at a hotel called The National," Giselle remarked. "For the weekend anyway."

"The lobby was very different and smelled like chicken," Eloise piped up. "There were no candy counters or movie magazines for Lord's sake! Some people spoke Russian and me and Giselle made them think we didn't understand."

"I hope you didn't get lost during this Moscow vacation." Garry said to them.

"No, we had this woman who was our guide named Zhenka who was also our translator," Giselle replied. "We came for the weekend to see the circus, the czar, a kazatzki, and a Charlotte Russe. It was quite an adventurous vacation."

Ib felt lost in some words that Giselle and Eloise said, though it sounded like quite the experience. The story soon ended with Eloise mentioning that she and Giselle received a telegram from their mother who hoped they had a good time and promised to be back home again very soon. Garry couldn't help but notice though that at the last part, Giselle rolled her eyes. Almost as if she didn't seem to like her mother as much as Eloise did. 

"Well, girls, that was quite the story," Garry remarked. "Shall we set back out then?" he then asked.

"I'm ready." Ib replied.

"Let's go, go, go!" Eloise added.

"All right," Garry smiled. "Let's do this then."

Giselle nodded as they soon left the room they were in to continue their sudden art gallery adventure, being very careful and patient along the way. Giselle followed them out as she began to think back to the vacation in Moscow which was very exhausting, and not just for Eloise and Nanny.

* * *

_Giselle stared at the telegram sent by her mother as she sat on the bed she would share with Eloise while Nanny had her own bed in the Russian hotel room._

_"Girls, I thought you could use some fresh air away from New York. Why don't you visit my dear old friend, The Russian Ambassador: Vyacheslav Molotov? I'm sure he would love to hear from you and meet you. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it, I have other commitments with Coco this weekend. See you soon though and send Nanny my love"._

_"What other commitments?" Giselle groused to herself. "You have to take Better Parenting Classes or something?"_

_"Giselle?" Nanny called as she soon came over to see the girl, wearing a fluffy white robe. "Your little sister is about to take a 'bawth'."_

_"Hopefully she doesn't flood the hotel like she nearly did during her last bath," Giselle replied as she crumbled up the telegram in her hands. "I hope she's having fun here."_

_"Yes, yes, yes," Nanny said. "Hopefully we can see the circus that Zhenka had told us about when we came over yesterday." _

_Giselle seemed to simply stare in silence._

_"...Giselle, is something bothering you?" Nanny asked._

_"Why would you say that, Nanny?" Giselle muttered softly, though she was still easy to hear, especially due to the woman's age._

_"Giselle, I have known you for seven years, I can tell when something is bothering you," Nanny reminded before she soon came to sit down with the girl before seeing that she had her mother's telegram. "...Oh, I see. Still feeling sore about your mother?"_

_"Nanny, I'm not sure about her 95% of the time," Giselle just sharply sighed. "I know you say she loves you, me, and Eloise, but... It just feels like she'd rather spend time with her popularity and fancy friends all over Europe than be with us. I understand her job is important and we need the money, but couldn't she have a job closer to home? At least then she would be home more."_

_"Ah, Giselle, I know you have a rough time with your mother, but she really does love you," Nanny coaxed. "I know it's hard for you not to see her all the time like you used to when Eloise was a baby and the occasional visits from my brother."_

_"Uncle Gavin's the best though." Giselle smiled softly._

_"Yes, he is and he loves you two too," Nanny smiled back. "But no love can replace that of a mother. And I know for a fact that your mother loves you and Eloise a lot. She allows you to order room service to charge to her account, she arranges for a tutor to come see your little sister after the Nursery School incident, she calls at least once a day--"_

_"But she's never home," Giselle interrupted. "She might be busy and does nice things for us, but it wouldn't kill her to be home more often. Especially since my father left."_

_"That wasn't your fault, Giselle." Nanny said softly._

_"I know it wasn't and I don't blame Eloise either," Giselle replied. "I know that my father left because of what our mother did."_

_Nanny frowned softly as she wasn't sure what to say to that._

_"I'm sorry, Nanny, but I need to be alone right now." Giselle softly._

_"...All right, pet," Nanny said before she gave Giselle a comforting and great big hug before the teenage girl would go off. "I'll tell Eloise that you'll be back in time for bed."_

_"Right... Just remember, this conversation never happened." Giselle said before she stood up from the bed._

_"You can trust me, dear." Nanny smiled._

_Giselle smiled back softly before she left the hotel room._

* * *

Eventually, the group was found downstairs and ended up in a different dark-colored room. They soon heard a knocking which seemed to make them nervous and worried. They soon came to the door where the knocking came from and there appeared to be a peephole on the door. 

"I'm not sure if I trust that." Giselle said cautiously.

Eloise soon looked in before shrugging. "I don't see anything." she then said.

Giselle then put her hand to her heart with a small sigh in relief. 

"It's okay." Garry comforted as she understood why that would startle Giselle with her little sister going off like that.

They soon walked along before they found a blank wall that had a framed picture inside. The picture appeared to be white and was broken into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle.

"Girls, have you heard of milk puzzles?" Garry asked with a small smile.

"No, what is it?" Ib asked as Giselle and Eloise shook their heads.

"Well, as the name implies, it's a puzzle where all the pieces are white like milk," Garry explained. "Since there's no picture on them, they're much harder than regular puzzles. Very smart people can finish them in no time at all, but... To be honest, they're not exciting. Since they don't even make a picture in the end."

"Hm..." Giselle replied. "Sounds boring to be honest."

"And being bored is not allowed." Eloise added.

"It feels much more worth it to do a puzzle of a picture you like." Garry then said with a smile.

"Yeah!" Ib agreed. "That sounds like fun."

* * *

They soon walked off as the puzzle didn't do anything, passing by the portrait of "Fleeting Thoughts of a Moonlit Night". They came into another room as a red-dressed statue blocked the way, so of course, Garry moved it out of the way and Eloise pulled on a cord hanging from the ceiling. It didn't seem to do anything until they walked through the next door which was unlocked from that. 

"Someone wrote on the wall; that's very, very, very naughty," Giselle shook her head before she read aloud what was on the wall. "'What is the title of the large floor painting in Guertena's exhibition?'"

"Ugh... Could it be a password?" Garry groaned. "The big fish painting, right? Did you see it, girls?"

"...Yes, I remember that!" Giselle replied. "It was The Abyss of the Deep."

"Ah, yes, that was it!" Garry agreed. "'Abyss of the Deep'!"

"That sounds good to remember for later." Eloise suggested.

"I agree," Garry nodded. "Good job, Eloise."

Ib smiled as Eloise beamed before she soon curtsied at her accomplishment.

* * *

They soon found another painting that looked like a red background with black branches. At least, that was how it looked to Giselle.

"It's another painting," Garry then said. "'Separation'? What an upsetting painting." he then commented.

The lights then flickered before leaving them in the darkness.

"Th-The lights just went out!" Giselle yelped as Eloise and Ib huddled to her.

"Girls, just wait there!" Garry told them as he began to flick something. "I'll get my lighter."

And in a few moments, they had light again. Sure, it was a little light, but at least it was something. 

"Aha! Good thing I had this on me!" Garry grinned.

"Uh, Garry?" Giselle asked uneasily.

The quartet soon looked to the gray wall to see writing left around the painting.

"Uh... What is this?" Giselle asked as her face slowly blanched.

"Ugh... This place isn't good for our mental health." Garry groaned.

"I'll call Dr. Cosmo McKinley and Dr. Nation McKinley on TV..." Giselle murmured before she began to think a bit back to a certain misadventure she had with her little sister and caretaker. "...Who suspiciously remind me of a strange couple Eloise and Nanny and I met one night after meeting her distant niece and nephew: Danielle and Brad Majors."

"Uh... I'm not sure I wanna know," Garry said to her. "Let's go, girls."

They soon went through a door and Ib found something very interesting.

"Hey, there's footsteps," The brown-haired girl said as she saw red footsteps patterned in the middle of the floor. "Were these here before--" she then yelped suddenly.

"Ib! You okay?" Eloise asked her new friend.

"Ugh... I think so..." Ib pouted.

"Hey!" A new voice yelped.

* * *

"Whoa! Are you okay?" Garry asked as they found a girl with golden blonde hair in an emerald green dress. 

The girl looked at them and backed away, looking a bit startled.

"Ah, wait!" Garry said to the girl to try to calm her down. "Hey, are you... Could you be one of the visitors to the gallery?" he then asked with a hopeful smile.

The girl soon seemed to smile back. Giselle kept glancing at the girl though. She couldn't help but feel like she recognized this girl from somewhere, but where? She wasn't one of Eloise's usual little friends from the Plaza Hotel or a classmate of Mr. Salamone's (spoiled and horrid) nephew, Edwin. Perhaps she stayed at the hotel at one point?

"As I thought," Garry said to the blonde girl. "I am Garry."

"I'm Ib." Ib smiled.

"My name is Giselle," Giselle said to the blonde girl as she shook off her curiosity, long enough to properly introduce herself. "And this is my little sister, Eloise."

"I am Eloise," Eloise added. "I am six."

"Nice to meet you. My name is Mary," The blonde girl smiled as she shook hands with Eloise, Ib, and Giselle. "I'm sure we'll be best friends."

"I like the sound of that, Mary," Giselle smiled back. "By the way, we were in the art gallery and somehow found ourselves lost in this place... Like, we're in the gallery, but somewhere beyond the beyond of the gallery, but now we're all trying to find a way out."

"Are you doing the same?" Eloise asked Mary.

"I... I was looking to see if there was anyone else too," Mary said softly. "I wanted to get out... So, I..."

"Ah, I knew it!" Garry beamed. "Well, would you like to come with us?" he then invited. 

"Huh?" Mary blinked her ocean blue eyes.

"That might be a good idea," Giselle agreed. "It's dangerous to be out here alone. There are lots of strange creatures around."

"So will you come with us?" Garry added with a small smile. "I think it would be best if we all stay together."

"Yeah! I'll come!" Mary suddenly piped up happily, like a typical carefree child. 

"Wonderful!" Garry beamed. "All right, now that we have more company, we can proceed with our spirits high!"

"Yay!" Mary beamed back.

"...Say, seeing as the girls and I have roses, Mary, do you have a rose as well?" Garry suddenly thought out loud.

"Yeah, I do!" Mary beamed as she brought out a rose that matched the color of her hair and cheerful disposition. "A yellow rose!"

"Oh, we see, it's like a buttercup flower," Giselle replied. "You should keep that safe, Mary. Trust me, we know."

"Giselle is right," Garry added urgently. "Don't you dare lose it and don't give it to anyone and--"

"Woooow! Ib's rose is reeeeed! My rose is yelloooow! Giselle has a bluuuuue rose!~" Mary sang to herself happily. "I like yellow, but I also like Eloise's pink rose! Oh, and blue!"

"Learn to listen, would you?" Garry advised sharply.

And so, they went to carry on with their traveling to hopefully find a way out of the art gallery and get back to their families. 

"Mary, have you or your family ever stayed at The Plaza Hotel?" Giselle asked the new girl.

"Huh? Oh, no, I haven't," Mary replied. "Why do you ask?"

"You just seem so familiar to me somehow," Giselle said to her. "...Like, I feel like I know you from somewhere."

"Well, I don't know," Mary shrugged innocently. "At least we know each other now, right?"

"...Yes, I suppose we do." Giselle said with a small smile.

Mary smiled back as they continued to walk along.

* * *

They soon came into a new room which seemed to have cute and fuzzy bunny rabbits that caught the girls' attention instantly.

"Oh, look at 'em!" Giselle gushed. "They look like marshmallow bunnies from Easter!"

Eloise, Ib, and Mary each helped themselves to some bunnies while Garry looked like he was going to be sick.

"Oh, my gosh; they're so cute!" Mary beamed at her new friends. "Aren't they cute, guys?"

"Yeah, they are!" Ib smiled.

"I should decorate the hotel lobby with these whenever The Easter Bunny visits us!" Eloise added.

"I'd ask Mr. Salamone for permission on that first, Ellie." Giselle suggested.

"Erm... Yes, Giselle." Eloise replied bashfully.

"Garry, are you okay?" Giselle asked the young adult man. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"The love of... This painting... This room... Why must it be so unsettling?!" Garry groaned queasily.

"Huh? Really?" Mary asked him. "I think it's cute."

"What about this is CUTE?!" Garry complained.

"Garry." Giselle rolled her eyes.

"I just think this is cute," Mary pouted. "What do you girls think?"

"Of course it's cute," Eloise smiled. "The Easter Bunny would probably love it here."

"Yeah, I wanna pet it." Ib added.

"Well, all right then," Garry said as he tried to keep his sanity. "At any rate, let's try to get out of this creepy place quick. I feel like I'm being watched in this room. Talk about unsettling."

"Boys." Eloise and Giselle rolled their eyes before sharing a laugh together.

They soon left the room as the green bunny seemed to hop down from the shelf and shatter just as they left. As they went to explore, the painting had a sound come out of it.

* * *

"Huh?" Mary blinked. "That sound's... Getting closer."

A flower seemed to reach out of the painting as the room shook. There was a group of vines that burst out of the floor.

"Something came up from the ground!" Mary gasped.

"Maybe it's a beanstalk!" Giselle added.

"A beanstalk, Giselle?" Garry groaned. "Like from a fairy tale?"

"Well, you don't know in a place like this." Giselle shrugged.

"Hm... Fair enough." Garry then agreed.

The room then shook again.

"Th-This is bad!" Garry panicked. "Get away from the painting!"

"Ib! Eloise! Watch out!" Mary called out to her two new friends.

Then suddenly, the little girls and young adults were split up, separated from each other as the vines got higher and blocked their way from each other.

"ELOISE!" Giselle shrieked, fearing the worst of being separated from her little sister.

"GISELLE!" Eloise cried out.

"Are you girls alright?" Garry asked Eloise, Ib, and Mary. 

"Augh! That scared me!" Mary pouted.

"I wanna go home, Giselle." Eloise pouted.

"I'm sorry, Ellie, but it might be a while." Giselle frowned softly.

"Ib?" Garry asked the nine-year-old girl. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not hurt." Ib said softly.

"Good... But with these things in the way, Giselle and I can't get over there," Garry said in relief, but also regret at the moment. "Maybe I can cut it down?"

"Garry, I don't think that's an option," Giselle said as she reached out before feeling the vines. "These vines are made out of stone."

"Oh... What to do?" Garry frowned.

"Hey, girls?" Mary spoke up to Eloise and Ib. "You got a key in that room, right? Maybe that key opens that door there?" she then suggested.

"Hmm... Maybe," Eloise replied. "Then maybe we could find something to get rid of these to get back to Giselle and Garry."

"Should we go look?" Mary suggested.

"Uh... Giselle, could we?" Eloise asked her big sister.

"Oh... I don't know..." Giselle frowned. "I wonder if... Uh... If you'll be okay?"

"We'll be fine!" Mary smiled. "Right, guys? Eloise agrees with me."

Eloise smiled back.

"Uh..." Ib blinked.

"Come on, Ib, it's right this way!" Mary smiled as she pulled the girl along. "We'll be back real quick!"

Ib looked unsure about splitting up as she looked back at Giselle and Garry while walking ahead with Mary and Eloise.

"Looks like it's just me and you, huh, Giselle?" Garry remarked.

"Yes, Garry, looks like it's just us..." Giselle said softly as she watched Eloise disappeared as she began to feel her heart fluttering in her chest as she looked like she was ready to cry. 


	6. Chapter 6

Being separated from Eloise was probably the worst thing Giselle had ever endured in her life. Her life might had begun as an older sister who was about to turn 11 in time for her little sister's arrival until the little bundle of joy was born about six weeks early. From the moment Giselle was able to and allowed to hold Eloise in her arms, she knew from that moment on that she would never let go and always be there because she now had a job. She was going to be a big sister and was going to be the best one there ever was... At least she had hoped so.

Whenever her mother or Nanny were busy to come tend to the baby, Giselle made it her responsibility to go and check on Eloise. She would sit in the rocking chair in the baby girl's room, feed her her bottle, play with her, feed her her oatmeal that Nanny often made, though there was one part she could've lived without: the dreaded diaper change. Nanny also introduced the family to her brother Gavin who had come to take Nanny back home to Hertfordshire. Gavin grew just as attached to the girls as his "Little Sissie" had and became an honorary member of the family, so much that Giselle was allowed to call him "Uncle Gavin".

Gavin felt like a father figure to Giselle, especially since her father left after her and Eloise's mother did some unspeakable acts. Giselle never blamed Eloise for her father leaving, she was just a baby. No matter what some bullies in school would tell Giselle just to make her life more miserable than it already was. Sometimes the boy friends she had did the same because boys often teased girls for the fun of it and there was one other girl in their group... Who was she right now? Giselle couldn't remember at the moment... The biggest moment in Giselle's life of leaving Eloise was when "Mother" applied Giselle to a special school in London to become a student. It was heartbreaking for Giselle to go, though she called as often as she could and she knew that once her mother was discovered and welcomed into the fashion industry in Paris, France, she had to see Eloise and Nanny again. 

Giselle asked Nanny where they were staying these days as she knew with her mother's new job that it was no doubt expensive and off the grid... But alas, no. For whatever reason, Mother thought it would be nice of Eloise and Nanny stayed at the best hotel in New York City where she could use her name, power, and wealth to give them whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. The very idea of this sickened Giselle because she knew it would just make Eloise into a miniature version of their mother which was something she did not want. Giselle just shivered and shook, feeling more vulnerable without Eloise there especially since she promised from the first moment she laid eyes on and held Eloise, she would never leave her again and always be there for her. Always...

"You've been quiet, Giselle..." Garry said softly.

"I-I'm sorry, Garry," Giselle replied. "I just have a lot on my mind since we split up from Eloise, Ib, and Mary."

"Yes, I understand," Garry nodded. "I can tell that Eloise means the whole world to you."

"I promised that ever since she was a baby that I would always be there for her and never let her go," Giselle said softly. "Who knows what she might be going through right now?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Garry coaxed. "I'll be right here with you."

* * *

Meanwhile, the younger girls soon used the violet key and ended up in a room with several boxes. It reminded Eloise of going down the very, very long hallway with Skipperdee and ended up inside of the Lost & Found closet where they made all sorts of special discoveries. Maybe it was not so lost because Eloise was able to find it. She did feel scared without Giselle, though ironically, not as much as Giselle felt without her. 

"Looks like this would break if you hit it," Mary commented as they found a headless statue. "Way too heavy to move though."

"Uh-huh." Ib merely nodded.

"We need a big strong man," Eloise said. "Like Rico down in the boiler room back at the Plaza. Nanny says he has 'rawther' lovely muscles."

The girls explored and found all sorts of art supplies in the boxes. 

"Hmm... Is there anything useful in here?" Mary wondered before gasping.

There was a palette knife deep in the current box they had found. 

"Maybe this can cut those vines?" Eloise said hopefully.

"Hmm... Maybe..." Ib said softly. "But be careful in case it's sharp."

"Right," Mary nodded. "I don't see anything else that could be useful. Maybe we should head back to Garry and Giselle now?"

And then suddenly, the lights began to flicker on and off which proved to be a bit scary for the girls. 

"I-It's okay..." Eloise said as calmly as possible. "We're all okay."

"That scared me..." Mary pouted. 

They soon walked to the exit only for one of the headless statues to be blocking the exit. That could not be a coincidence. 

"We can still move it," Eloise suggested. "If we all push together."

"Eloise is right," Mary nodded. "Let's try it... And... Heeeave!" she then called out.

The girls tried to move the statue, but even with their combined strength, it wouldn't budge. It was no good, so how were they going to get out now? 

"I guess we can try to go this way?" Ib suggested as she pointed to the only other door in the room.

"Not much else we can do, but go this way." Mary shrugged.

They soon went over to the door which was luckily unlocked and they ended up into a brand new room and section of the museum. The lighting seemed to flicker again and there were bodies moving across the windows on the walls. This was getting even scarier than being locked in the boiler room on Halloween night. Some bodies even knocked on the windows as the girls felt more and more scared.

* * *

On the other side, as they walked around, a red ball was bouncing down the stairs before splattering on the floor into a mess. The girls decided not to mess with it and just kept going while making sure nothing would grab them or hurt them. Some writing appeared on the walls... Inviting them...

** _"I want you to come and have fun, Ib..."_ **

** _"Come to a fun world without any adults..."_ **

** _"We'll be together..."_ **

** _"You, me, and our friends..."_ **

They soon entered yet another room with a blue rose print which had Mary thinking to herself.

"I wonder what Garry and Giselle are doing?" Mary remarked to herself. "We kinda left them behind..."

* * *

Back with the two young adults, they were sitting together in silence as Eloise, Ib, and Mary didn't come back which proved to be concerning. 

"They're taking their time..." Garry softly said to Giselle. "I wonder if something happened?"

"Garry, please, I have a very weak heart," Giselle replied. "I'm worried and scared enough as it is."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you," Garry said. "I just can't help but wonder."

"GIRLS!" Giselle soon called out. "Can you hear us?!"

There was no reply.

"Argh! They can't hear us!" Garry complained.

"I'm a terrible big sister," Giselle said emotionally. "We shouldn't have left them on their own!"

"Oh, Giselle, you couldn't have known what would happen and you can't help it." Garry said softly.

"But what do we do?" Giselle sniffled as she started to feel her sepia eyes being itched by tears. "We can't just leave them there..."

"Oh, dear, dear, dear, please don't cry," Garry said as he took out a hanky from his pocket and pinched her nose with it. "It'll be okay... Now blow."

Giselle soon blew her nose as she looked emotionally wrecked without Eloise. 

"It's okay," Garry said softly. "What say you we go investigate the room a little better?"

"...Well, okay," Giselle sighed. "I just miss Eloise very much right now. She means the whole world to me."

"I know, I know, but don't be too upset," Garry comforted. "Come along now and make sure that rose is secure."

"Oh, Garry... Thank you..." Giselle nodded as she kept her rose close to her heart.

"You're very welcome." Garry smiled warmly before he let out a cartoony sounding groan about going to check out the room again with Giselle.

And so, they went back into the room which was now filled with creepy dolls that all set their sights on Garry and Giselle. It was very unsettling like they had just stepped into their own personal horror movie. 

"...No matter how I look at it, this does _not_ look 'cute'." Garry groaned at the sight of the creepy dolls.

"And I thought Eloise's Saylor doll looked creepy." Giselle shuddered as the plastic baby doll was falling apart and was even missing an eye and the legs were falling off as well as the arms. 

"Dolls aren't my most favorite thing in the world." Garry mumbled.

"You don't say." Giselle said with a small giggle, unable to resist feeling tickled from his reaction from the dolls overall.

The two young adults explored the room a little bit, surrounded by disturbing dolls.

"Well, nothing here," Garry shrugged before he looked over the shelf that was in front of what seemed to be a cracking hole in the wall. "Huh?" he then pushed it away to see the fracture in the wall. "Ah, it moved! Why didn't I notice that earlier?"

"Oh, well, at least we have a way out now." Giselle replied.

"Indeed, Giselle." Garry nodded in agreement.

They soon followed the path and then came into a brand new room, leaving behind the creepy dolls luckily enough. They took a look around and a creepy doll face seemed to appear when they weren't paying attention to one spot. 

"_'There is no exit, There is no reason'_." Giselle read something on the wall aloud as the doll's eyes followed them around.

"Looks like we still have to be careful." Garry advised as he looked to the door and tried to open it, but it was, of course, locked.

There were then cords hanging from the ceiling. Giselle and Garry took turns pulling on them to see what would happen, though they braced themselves as one wrong move would be a truly grave mistake. Something strange happened though once they got to the fourth cord.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eloise, Ib, and Mary explored another room as they were stuck with a gaping hole between them that led to somewhere else, but they had no way to pass it without a bridge of some sorts. There was no floor there and a pair of eyes in a portrait blinked at them, making their situation a lot more creepy than it needed to be. However, as though by magic, the portrait soon slid off of the wall and soon bridged the gap for the young girls so that they could cross and get to the other side. 

"Look! We can cross!" Mary piped up to Ib and Eloise.

"Is it okay to cross?" Ib wondered as she stared intently.

"Guess so!" Mary piped up. 

"Let's hurry then." Eloise suggested as Ib had a staring contest with the portrait.

And so, one-by-one, the three little girls crossed their new bridge, not sure how or why it happened, but were thankful that it did. They then passed by a box which had something moving inside, though Mary was unsure about them opening it.

"Guys... Let's not open that box..." Mary advised.

"Looks like it should go in the Package Room," Eloise spoke up as the box made her think of a package. "The Package Room has all these packages in it and sometimes I have to help them lift those heavy boxes and look for small packages that might be for me, Eloise. Usually Mother sends for me and Giselle during her travels, especially during the holidays or sending roses for Valentine's Day which is also Giselle's birthday."

They soon went into the next room which was a bit dark and mysterious like the Plaza Hotel's boiler room as a box with a blue triangle on it soon fell through the gap, puzzling the girls.

* * *

Giselle and Garry soon looked curious of this box before they moved it into a space in the floor with had a triangle-shaped hole before they moved it there and that soon unlocked the mysterious door. Once in the new room, as if a twist from dark and cruel fate, there was one of the infamous disturbing dolls that they ignored at first.

**_'Hello there, Giselle and Garry... I don't like being alone... Take me with you...!' T_**he doll spoke in a whispering/echoing voice. 

"...I don't trust that." Giselle told Garry.

Garry nodded in agreement as they soon began to walk away before they passed the same disturbing doll that somehow seemed to be following them.

**_'Hey... Why aren't you taking me with you?'_ **The doll asked.

Giselle and Garry soon walked away to the end of the hallway and walked up a new path, getting a bit faster and brisker in their walking before they came to the end of one section to see the disturbing doll yet again.

**_'Why are you ignoring me?'_ **The doll asked in a haunting tone of voice. **_'Do you hate me?'_**

The two just going as their heartbeats got faster and faster within their footsteps.

**_'Hey, play with me!'_ **The doll demanded. **_'I know lots of fun things we can do...'_**

No matter where they turned or went, the disturbing doll kept on following them as Giselle began to look a little sick to her stomach. She saw flashes of her life going by...

* * *

Spending time with both her parents back when they were poor and had no fame to their names... Giving her father his cigarettes with his newspaper... The friends she used to have in the neighborhood back when she was a bit of a daredevil and roughhousing with neighborhood boys, but she did love fantasizing with dolls and playing dress-up, she was neither a tomboy or a girly girl back then... Also her friends who were all boys named Melvin Balfour, Nicky Fenwick, and Junior Harcourt... There was also someone else... But she couldn't think of who at the moment... Eventually, tragedy struck...

Giselle's mother grew unhappy with her father and wanted some excitement in her life, such as being rich and famous and living in Hollywood, but those dreams seemed to only fall on deaf ears. This then led to Giselle's father to drinking a lot more often and Giselle's mother often snuck out to meet more exciting men before she was invited to a Debutante Ball where she wore Dior and had grace... Eventually, she overdid it with her social drinking and woke up in bed with another man she does not remember to this very day. 

The result was pregnancy and when it was obvious that Giselle's father wasn't the same father as this baby, he decided to take himself out of the family picture which then led to Giselle and her mother drifting apart and the only thing that Giselle clung to in her family that she had left that she enjoyed: Eloise. She found herself missing Eloise very much and tried to think of the lullaby she gave for her baby sister next to the "Feed the Birds" song that she sang to her one night that she learned from Nanny a very long time ago. She sang the song in her head to clear her mind of how her life was up until this point.

** _'I've got lots of friends too!' The doll continued. 'I'll introduce you! Be here forever!'_ **

Eventually, Giselle was pulled from her thoughts as they made it to the door to go outside the room only to be blocked by the same doll.

"How long are you going to follow us?" Garry grunted. "Enough of this! We're busy here and we're not going to be your buddies!"

Giselle was very frustrated with both her inner thoughts and the doll tormenting them before kicking it into the wall and away from the door with splatter on the wall that read **_"TAKE ME"_**. Luckily for her and Garry though, the door somehow was unlocked and they went into the next room just to move on. 

Once they made it into the next room, the disturbing doll was still following them.

**_'I'll always be with you~...'_** The doll told them.**_ 'My house is just nearby.'_**

"NO!" Giselle and Garry cried out.

They soon came into another room which had seven pedestals with a paint wheel on the wall with all the seven colors of the rainbow with seven pedestals on the floor before them. Giselle instantly thought of her Art Class back in school and just knew that her friend Ronda would love a room like this. 

"Since there are seven colors of the rainbow, I feel like we have to match them with these pedestals somehow." Giselle spoke up.

"That seems likely, Giselle," Garry agreed before looking at a clue on the wall that had written instructions. "'Collect the seven balls of paint, then the room will be colored, and your bridge will be made'."

"So I was right." Giselle then nodded at herself.

"Balls of paint though? I wonder where those are..." Garry pondered out loud.

"I'm not sure, but I saw a lot of doors around this room outside, so we might as well check them all out." Giselle suggested.

"I agree." Garry nodded.

The two soon went to explore around the various other doors. One room was a bit fatal and was red which took away some of their rose petals, but they also found one of the balls of paint and collected it as quickly as possible, though it vanished once they touched it. Once out of the room, they quickly replenished their roses since they nearly ran all out of petals and sighed in relief once they were still alive.

"All right... One down and six to go..." Giselle said, healthy, but still a bit scared.

* * *

Meanwhile, the girls were still exploring their new surroundings.

"Hey, guys, can I ask you something?" Mary asked Ib and Eloise. "Is Garry... Your dad?"

"Nope." Ib replied.

"I haven't seen my dad in years." Eloise added.

"So your dad... Is somebody else..." Mary then said. "Is Giselle your mother?"

"As I've said before, Giselle is my big sister." Eloise spoke up.

"Yes," Ib added. "I do not know her well myself."

"I see..." Mary said mysteriously. "Are your mothers nice?"

Eloise then told Mary about her mother such as her travels to Paris and to Europe and how old she was like she did when she had first met Ib while Giselle didn't speak much about their mother, at least in a positive light. 

"My mother is nice, but not when she's mad." Ib admitted.

Mary couldn't help but find that a little funny. "She gets mad at you, Ib?!" she then asked her new friend. 

"I do hope we get out soon, I'd love to see Giselle and Nanny again really soon," Eloise said softly then. "Especially Weenie, who is my dog that looks like a cat, and my Skipperdee who is my turtle who wears sneakers sometimes."

"I want to see my parents again too." Ib said hopefully.

"Yes, yes... I want to get out soon too," Mary nodded in agreement. "Hey, guys, uh... If only two of us could get out... Then what?"

Eloise and Ib looked curious and thoughtful over that question. Eloise would want to leave with Giselle of course, but she didn't think she could ditch her new friends like this. 

"It would be lonely to leave on your own, would you even see your family again?" Mary pondered. "Let's not think about this, huh? We'll leave all together! Promise!"

* * *

They soon left the room and explored more curious and amazing sights. They found a bookshelf with a collection of books, two that included stories that sounded strangely familiar. Ib found a story about a little girl who got separated from her parents in an art gallery while Eloise found a story about a little girl who lived in the big city and had adventures with new friends and new experiences. There was another book that had the paintings of Guertena in alphabetical order.

"Should we take a look?" Mary smiled as that one seemed to interest her.

Eloise and Ib nodded as they sat down and decided to check out the book together since they had nothing else going on.

"_'The Lady in Red (6210)',_" Eloise read aloud as best as she could. "_'It was said that he based this on a lover he had at the time, but he has denied this claim'_."

"'In truth, Guertena based it around the... Something women who attempted to court him for his inheritance'." Ib added, not knowing some of the words. 

They also read about _The (???) Fish and The Juggler_, but those pictures weren't going to be the strangest ones they or Garry and Giselle would read about. Eloise, Ib, and Mary could only wonder what these numbers would mean.

Giselle looked around as she explored with Garry, looking very emotional as she was thinking back to a day back at the Plaza.

* * *

Eloise had become very sick and Dr. Hadley said that she had to stay in bed and be waited on for the next week or so. Nanny ordered special treats from Room Service after telling Phillip that Eloise would be unable to have one of her tutoring sessions and came to see her in person, not believing that she was actually sick until he realized that she was really burning up with a 102° fever and they called "Mother" on the phone for about an hour and charged it to the account before Giselle would come back after another busy school day, though she wished she could spend the day at home to look after Eloise, but Nanny reassured her it would be fine. Giselle called Nanny during her lunch hour, saying that lunchtime felt lonely for the week, but she had a surprise planned for later that she had been working on for the past week or so. She was going to wait until November in time for Eloise's birthday, but thought this would be a good treat for any time of the year just to show how much she loved and adored her baby sister. 

"Eloise... Your sister is back from school... And she has a surprise for you." Nanny said softly as she came to the six-year-old patient on the couch who watched TV with Weenie and Skipperdee. 

"A surprise? For me?" Eloise asked in a croaky voice before coughing. "What is it?"

"I made a song for you during my Music Class, Ellie," Giselle said as she sat on the bench for the piano in the room as she crossed her legs. "Would you care to listen to it?"

"You wrote a song for me?" Eloise smiled softly. "I would absolutely love, love, *cough, cough* ...Love that, Gissy~"

"I thought you might like it," Giselle smiled back as she turned around on the bench and cracked her knuckles. "I hope you enjoy it... I had to practice a lot of scales and arpeggios."

Nanny smiled as she soon decided to pull over the chair from Eloise's room, sinking a little bit, trying not to break it as she wanted to hear the song too. Giselle smiled warmly as she began to play a sweet little tune on the piano, sounding almost like a lullaby and a cute ballad. Eloise's head flowed to the music a little bit, as did Weenie and Skipperdee's heads.

"After the day is over... And when it's time for bed... So many things are probably... Running around your head~..." Giselle began to sing angelically. "Nanny might read you a story... I could sing you a lullaby... Sleep tight and don't you worry... El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-o-ise~..." she then sang her little sister's name, drawing it out a bit to make it its own allegro beat. 

Nanny smiled warmly and looked touched as the sound was very cute so far.

"What will you do in the morning?, Something that's never been done, Something I bet will surprise everyone~," Giselle continued. "What will you order for breakfast?, Maybe you will order a treat, Whatever tickles your fancy, El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-oise~..." 

Eloise smiled during the song, coughing a bit, but she really loved it a lot so far.

"Deep in the night, monsters appear~," Giselle continued, never skipping a beat. "Lions and tigers chew on your ears~"

Eloise began to bury herself under the blanket at first.

"Drag you away to a cave, That's absolutely black~," Giselle continued as she remembered some rough nights Eloise would have before waking up Nanny with a flashlight to the face. "And as soon as the day awakens, Before you get out of bed, So many things are spinning around your head, If you just lie in the stillness, You can hear the wind in the trees... And you can hear them calling~"

"El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-o-ise~..." The three females sang together while Weenie began to howl as though to sing along with them. "El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-o-ise~..."

The piano playing continued before Giselle finished and bowed her head, receiving applause from both Eloise and Nanny. Skipperdee even came out of his shell, giving a rose to Giselle as she took it with a fond chuckle before she picked up the turtle and kissed him on his face in thanks. Eloise and Nanny laughed a little from that.

"As long as you think about this song, whenever I'm away at school until our lunch in Palm Court or spending time after school when I don't have too much homework, I will always be with you, Eloise..." Giselle smiled as she hugged her younger sister. "Always."

"I'll always be with you too, Giselle." Eloise whispered hoarsely in the hug before they separated.

* * *

Giselle wiped her eyes in Present Day with tears in her eyes before she kept on following after Garry. 


End file.
